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ALISA ULFERTSHis peers pick the Brandon Republican to fill that role for two years, starting next fall.
TALLAHASSEE - The last time someone from Hillsborough County presided over the Florida Senate, Herbert Hoover was president, the Great Depression had settled in and gangster Al Capone was headed to prison.
The drought is about to end.
Senate Republicans picked Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, to lead that body for two years beginning in the fall of 2004.
Lee publicly criticized Gov. Jeb Bush during this year's medical malpractice debate and has accused him of putting a happy face on what Lee calls a dire financial picture for the state. Bush even flew to Brandon to try to patch things up this summer.
As they lined up to praise Lee, his supporters left no doubt about the significance of their choice.
Sen. Ken Pruitt said Lee will defend the Senate's role as an independent, deliberative body.
"He will demand that it be respected by others,' said Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie.
A Senate president has the power to steer projects to his home district. But Lee, 41, will take over at a time when the state's finances are expected to strain under the weight of costly initiatives.
Already Lee has begun work on a 2004 constitutional amendment to force lawmakers to look past the next election and write a five-year financial plan - similar to a business plan - that will give the state a better picture of where its money will come from over time and where it should be spent.
He once warned lawmakers from the Senate floor that "the day of reckoning is coming."
When he addressed his Senate colleagues, Lee spoke mostly of his family and promised to respect the ideas of everyone, even Democrats who often feel powerless in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
"This is a bipartisan Senate," Lee said.
Bush sat in the Senate chamber during the ceremony and later said he anticipated a good relationship with Lee and his House counterpart, Rep. Allan Bense, R-Panama City. Bush pointed out that Bense sat next to Lee during the ceremony.
"Tom Lee is going to be a good Senate president to work with. He's a fine leader," Bush said.
Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, joked with Lee, reminding him he didn't take over for another year.
It will be "a year from now, and I emphasize a year from now, when you grab the gavel from my still struggling hands," King said.
King defeated Lee two years ago as they vied to become Senate president, but they remained close. King kept Lee in his leadership circle.
Lee will be the first president from Hillsborough to preside over a Senate session since Patrick C. Whitaker in 1931. Louis de la Parte was named Senate president in July 1974 but, because of redistricting problems, never presided over a session.